It’s high time to provide a little wrap-up on this first London workshop. First of all, I am so grateful to my students for being there, listening, learning, exploring and taking risks throughout the day. For me, this was a terrific experience, and perhaps a decisive moment in itself. I really loved planning and conducting this one day workshop followed by feedback and review sessions. It made me learn a lot about myself, first of all, but also gave an entirely new meaning to my work: if I am capable of sharing what I have learned to help others, then it is a great achievement for me, and something that I’d be happy to do again in the future. In 2016, I am planning a series of workshops in Chicago, NYC and London, so stay tuned :)
Here are some feedback from my students, alongside some of the shots they’ve taken that day. Thank you so much for learning along with me!
“This was an excellent workshop and well worth the trip to London. It was helpful to have an opening presentation and then hit the streets. I appreciated the chance to see your style - shoot close and move on to the next image. You are an amazing resource and spending time with you was the highlight of the workshop. Brilliant to give us a chance to post our images on Google Plus and get feedback from the other participants and critical was the Skype session the following Sunday. I would take another workshop with you in a minute.” Denise P.
Image by Denise Pensky
“Viewing the Leica as an instrument, I realized I should be able to focus by feel. Your workshop was a real kick in the butt for me. Focus should be in motor-memory just like the feel of the strings and the neck on a guitar. So, that’s what I’ll be practicing… focus by eye & feel to free up time to frame the shot. Then the whole process won’t be an exercise in volume-production and selection. Another side-effect: since the workshop, shooting abstract geometries had become even more boring.” Ian B.
Image by Ian Bland
“I thought the workshop was really good. I think the format was really good, leading from an overview of principles through to busy streets and then getting to quieter streets which were more difficult/intimidating to get closer to people. The individual time, the follow-up workshop photo review – both on google+ group and on Skype, all of this really worked for me. A lot of what was most useful was simple comments or directions that helped me perhaps look at things differently. For example, looking for the complexity of light or the layers of light caused by reflections which led me to see pictures which I hadn’t seen before!” Brian B.
Image by Brian Boyce